The present disclosure relates to features of patient support apparatuses such as hospital beds. In one aspect, the present disclosure relates to patient control arms having user inputs that a patient uses to control features and functions of hospital beds, as well as other features and functions. In another aspect, the present disclosure relates to user inputs for locking out the ability to use one or more controls or features of a patient support apparatus.
Handheld personal phones, aka smartphones, are owned by a large percentage of the population. Many owners of these phones often believe they could not function adequately without them. Patients in healthcare facilities prefer to have their phones accessible while admitted to a healthcare facility. However, current patient support apparatuses on the market today do not adequately address patients' desire for ease of use of their smartphones while confined to a patient support apparatus. Some patient's and caregivers may wish to interact with one another via the patient's phone. Other aspects of a patient's care while in a healthcare facility may be enhanced if a patient has access to their phone. Allowing patients better ergonomic use of their personal phones while confined to a hospital bed, for example, may improve their experience while in a hospital or other healthcare facility.
It is sometimes desirable for a patient to be supported in a patient support apparatus, such as a hospital bed, with a head section of a mattress support deck of the bed elevated above a threshold angle. The Joint Committee on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) recommends that, under some circumstances, a patient be supported on a hospital bed in a semi-recumbent position, instead of a supine position, to reduce the risk of Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia (VAP) occurrence. JCAHO recommends head-of-bed angle (HOBA) for mechanically ventilated patients of at least 45 degrees in order to prevent pneumonia. For patients at high risk of skin breakdown, a HOBA of at least 30 degrees is recommended in order to prevent pneumonia and the development of pressure ulcers. See U.S. Pat. No. 7,487,562 in this regard.
Some existing hospital beds have an alarm that sounds and/or that is sent as an alarm signal to a remote computer device, such as a nurse call computer, if the head section of the bed is lowered below the threshold angle while a HOBA monitoring system has been armed or enabled. This type of prior art bed is described in the '562 patent mentioned above. Minimizing the number of alarms in a healthcare facility to which caregivers must respond, including head of bed angle alarms, may increase caregiver productivity.